Complicated, confusing man.
Wendy went on: “I was stranded twenty miles away when I ran out of gas.” She shot me a self-deprecating glance. “I called Gideon because I knew he’d at least wait twenty-four hours before giving me shit about it.”
I laughed. “How generous of him.”
“Right? But no matter what, with Gideon, you just know that he’ll have your back.”
My throat was tight. I wasn’t sure Gideon felt that way about me. One matcha latte did not a marriage make. But when I glanced up again, Gideon was watching me.
There was an intensity in his gaze. I moved baby Ollie’s fingers away from my mouth again—he really wanted to stick them in there for some reason—and glanced down to smile at him. He cooed, then suddenly remembered I wasn’t his mother. His face went red, and a silent scream shaped his mouth.
“Oops! Time’s up,” Wendy said, and took him out of my arms just in time for an ear-splitting shriek to rend the air. She settled her baby, murmuring soft words, then excused herself to feed him. I watched her go, feeling oddly emotional, like I had to grieve something I’d never realized I wanted.
I shook the feeling off as someone else sweptme up into conversation. Two of Gideon’s aunts, Susan and Angela, came up to talk about the wedding. Jennifer (shewasLola, Connor, and Glenn’s mom, I confirmed with subtle questioning) joined the conversation and complimented my dress and hair. Then the ladies were called away and I met Luca, who informed me my car would be ready in the morning. I was pretty sure he was Susan’s youngest son, but I was having a hard time keeping all the names and family connections straight. I needed Gideon to draw me a diagram.
Then Luca’s older brother, Fletcher, came by to pepper me with questions. I learned he was a furniture maker with his own workshop in town. He had incredible green eyes and the kind of biceps that made me sweat. Another brother existed, apparently, and he lived in Chicago and only came back to Marswood Harbor very rarely. Too big for his britches, Fletcher said with a grin, nudging Luca.
“How could he resist, what with all the beautiful breasts on display everywhere?” I asked, laughing.
Fletcher shifted his body slightly, and I sensed all his focus turn on me. His green eyes twinkled, the color brought out by the dark green plaid shirt he wore. I knew in an instant that this man was a Grade-A flirt. And why wouldn’t he be? He was gorgeous, like all the Mars men, although he didn’t make my heart thump the way Gideon did.
“One might say there are simultaneously too many and too few breasts on display in this town,” he replied with mock sadness.
“You could always ask Mrs. Gretzinger to give you a peek if you’re hard up for other options,” I suggested.
Fletcher barked out a laugh, and a few heads turned towardus. Luca snorted, shaking his head. Then he gave in and laughed.
“You know, Sadie,” Fletcher said, lips tugging up into a half smile once the laughter had faded. A dimple appeared in his cheek. “Things don’t work out with you and Gid…”
“Then she sure as hell isn’t ending up with you,” a gruff voice said at my back. Shivers coursed down my spine at the sound of Gideon’s anger and possessiveness, fire kindling in the pit of my stomach. The heat of his body touched my shoulder and back as the little hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Suddenly, I was panting. Lord have mercy.
Fletcher’s smile turned blazing, his eyes twinkling as he held my gaze. He knew exactly what he was doing. Finally tearing his eyes away from me, he lifted his hands in surrender as he met my husband’s gaze. “You don’t know what you’ve got here, cousin,” he said, indicating me.
“I know exactly what I’ve got,” Gideon replied darkly.
“Oh, my favorite thing!” I cut in. “Being talked about like an object when I’m standing right here.”
Still looking at Gideon, Fletcher’s grin widened as he shook his head. “Maybe Grandma’s pet dork isn’t so bad at his job, after all,” he mused, referring, I presumed, to the software engineer who’d designed the matchmaking algorithm for Etta.
Luca’s brows jumped as he glanced at Fletcher. “You’d agree to get married?You?”
Fletcher glanced at me and baldly checked me out. Then he shrugged. “Might not be so bad.”
Luca clicked his tongue, clearly skeptical. I finally stole a glance at Gideon, and saw the bare, simmering fury in his eyes.
Fool that I was, Gideon’s reaction excited me. No, itthrilledme. It made me feel special and precious and hot. The other men faded away, and Gideon finally looked at me. But his eyes were shuttered, and there was nothing there. This arrangement would never work if I kept thinking he liked me that way.
Then his brothers came up, and talk turned to the graffiti and vandalism in town. I made another boob joke and made them all laugh. Low-hanging fruit, but I wanted to make a good impression. The noise and vibration of their deep voices trembled through me. I was surrounded by so much testosterone that I started to sweat. Wendy was right; the Mars men really were something else. Gideon touched my elbow with his fingertips and led me out of the pack.
“How many cousins do you have?” I asked when we’d escaped the crush.
“Seventeen.”
I started. “And are all of them single men?”
“Why?” he asked, directing me toward the edge of the room. “You thinking of trading up?”
“Oh, stop it.”
